and not at all helpful to the objective of electing a Democratic president.

dog & pony show for network profits.

the candidates turn it onto attacks on others. It’s a holy hot mess, and we’ve had the mute button on more than the sound. Think I’ll switch it off soon.

But that is what we have seen since Bernie took the lead, supporters of other candidates going after Bernie, candidates going after Bernie, the moderators, the press and talk shows going after Bernie and inspiring the other candidates to go after Bernie.

Shame on the candidates for falling on that trap and to continue their bickering instead of laying out the Democratic platform and showing unity. Many people are becoming disenchanted with many of the Democratic candidates, it is a shame they have fallen for this trap, but then again it is a representation of the country and that is exactly what Putin has found out to be so easy, to make USA citizens fight against each other, just throw a little snowball and USA citizens will create the avalanche, it is a shame that it doesn't take much to do it, and DU members show that every day.

Whoever says that DU is not a true representation of the Democratic party is wrong, we are not only a micro representation of the Democratic party, but of the USA as well, easy to manipulate, easy to encourage to bicker, easy to take off from the most important goal which is to unite and defeat the creature and his crooks. Shame on us!

criticizing the candidates for not discussing things that the moderators did not bring up.

Nice to see though that Biden watching it all and then drops zingers. Good for him. And Bloomberg is being civil as well but he knows what he's talking about. Klobuchar is pretty good, too.

Unfortunately I couldn't take any more and went over to Big Bang Theory.

Not an uplifting spectacle at all. I'll vote for whichever Democrat is nominated, but these candidates are not covering themselves with glory tonight. Can't they realize that only ONE THING MATTERS? We either defeat tRump or kiss our country goodbye.

Substance is out the window. Moderators are pressed for time, and want to score points. The last debate was bickering and squabbling, jabs, and shouting. There is no place to act presidential, or articulate vision. Policies and numbers substitute for vision nowadays.

Is the whole world in a debt for equity swap? Trump and corporations get cash, Putin gets capitalism, dictators get a chastened democracy, and Bernie brings socialism?

.... gets all their clothes filthy, and they're still not fed!

For dang sure UNDIGNIFIED as you said Stinky; now it feels like mockery of the civic square.

I'm between SMH and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

You are all acting juvenile and like bullies. I am ashamed of them all for acting like children.


TAKE DOWN @realDonaldTrump not each other !!!!!

IMHO.

because no one is in control!

They look like schoolkids asking to go to the bathroom.

It’s gladiators in a metal dome. Perverse. Looks weird from abroad,
too.

Let’s hope that our Country gets much better come November!

I don't think the qualification for the presidency is who can interrupt more, speak over people, wave your arms and refuse to wait when someone else has been identified as the next speaker. Bunch of preschoolers.

I could hear the GOP laughing their ass off. Was such an embarrassment

The league of women voters used to organize the debates. They seemed to be better run.

Some rudery (great word) is to be expected.

More speech is better than less speech.



-Laelth

This format is designed to create a shouting match.

Shame on CBS and the DNC for this debate.

Not good for anybody.

I'm on the Warren train but I felt tonight she interrupted and talked way over her time. These debate formats are awful.

The moderators had little to no control. As a result the loudest voice got to continue.

Sanders was the worst. The moderators, and he, apparently thought this was HIS debate due to front runner status. In the beginning he sucked all the oxygen from the stage. It got better in the 2nd half.

Of them all, Pete and Steyers came across as the most calm and articulate.

Bloomberg did ok, he is obviously great in a boardroom, but running a country like a business is not smart. We are NOT a business. He isn't especially inspiring...

Pete did ok. He was coherent, and presented cogent arguments. They are so coherent and cogent that, as he stated, it can be mistaken as a lack of passion. I don't see it that way. I see it as controlled, and in a good way.

Warren needs to provide proof of Bloomberg's "kill it" charge, or shut up about it. Someone is lying. Either he is, or she is misrepresenting what the woman involved actually said.

Sanders was the loudest, repeating his same talking points, and he would not shut up. Nothing new, at high volume.

Biden presented his usual, semi-coherent responses. Embarrassing at times. Biden may have to eat his "I am GOING to win South Carolina" remark, regarding his comment about folding if he loses.

Klobuchar did ok. She didn't strike out at others like in the previous debate. That is a good thing.

Steyer did ok.

Overall, I think it IS doing us a disservice. It's presenting anything BUT a harmonious picture, and will probably engender more of the "they're ALL fucked up" response over the "hmmm, they are really convincing" response.

But that was just my take on it....

Two people can debate a single topic at a time.

Multiple people on stage is a variety show produced for selling TV advertising.

Calling it a political debate is false advertising.

I keep expecting the next "debate" will be on a Professional Wrestling ring..........

That's EXACTLY what it was.

And the DNC wonders why all us Dems are sitting here just shaking our heads...............

WASF

Trump gets away too free from criticism while we attack each other. The debate format doesn’t help.

This is a disgusting spectacle of a shouting match. The screaming and attacks are so depressing to me. The networks I guess and the DNC moderator questions are designed for fireworks. This is a vulgar game show that is humiliating candidates who do not have time to present their ideas. It all boils down to who can sound the best in sound bytes. I wanted to turn it off but my husband wanted to watch!

Their screaming at each other was most undignified and reveals how desperate they are. Steyer and Bloomberg have no right to be there. We would get more substance, possibly, with more time from the real candidates.

How did the party let this shit happen? The Democratic Primary campaign has been one lone gift to trump and republicans.

I agree the moderators are terrible. Hand-to-hand combat is next, I believe.

is the time many nations complete their presidential election cycle.

Complete shit show. The yelling, the asinine questions; it’s a spectacle and nothing more. If I was a candidate I would absolutely not participate and I don’t care about the fallout. There were no questions about foreign policy or SC judges - things a president actually has control over. Why not give each candidate 5 minutes to lay out their intended agenda and how they plan to implement it and work with Congress. Nothing but gotcha and vitriol. If I was Trump I’d be laughing my ass off. Pa-fucking-thetic.

to Trump.

They make our candidates look like petty buffoons, while the ultimate buffoon is serviced by the media and his cult of idiot racist fuckheads alike.

but it obviously began as a complete shit show. I suspect that the candidates themselves decided to clean up the shit show in one of the breaks. The moderators were not very good because they clearly tried to gin up the food fights.

And it will be my last. This freak show does nothing for our party. I'm embarrassed watching grown people waiving their hands up in the air begging to be called upon by idiot moderators. If we don't win this election, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves. The media should not be running the race. Look what they did to us in 2016. We are doomed.

Let's leave it up to 30 second snow job /attack ads.

Trump and his crowd would love a free for all, professional wrestling atmosphere. He certainly couldn’t hold his own discussing issues. They let him get away with it with Hillary when he was just a candidate. I doubt they’ll stand up to him as the sitting president.

How about getting the party to run their own? Set up a bunch of softball questions for them that really hammer Trump.

Why not?

Some of the questions are baiting, sure, but they need to show some restraint. Not use their time to get zingers in on opponents, not go over their time, not whine petulantly about their time, and so on.

candidates surrogates attacking fellow candidates with crap from eons ago is just vetting, supporters spending morning, noon and night sharing every negative they can find on the internet is vetting, cherry picking and misquoting is vetting... It's all just vetting, and folks LOVE vetting, republicans are going to do worse, so what's the difference? These debates are the hardcore vetting some folks have been demanding.

Last edited Tue Feb 25, 2020, 11:55 PM - Edit history (1)

I wonder sometimes what a political "debate" would look like if it were designed by a legacy print news outlet instead of television journalists. The NY Times show "The Weekly" showed the interviews done by the editorial board, but that wasn't an en masse appearance.

Picture, if you will, a debate run by the Washington Post alone, in which the questioners had the entire WaPo fact-check team in their ears, and in which they didn't ask or even allow questions or statements that led to candidates attacking each other or talking about someone else's policies in a misleading manner. Mics would only be live for the respondent to a particular question. No cross-talk, no yelling — just a calm, rational discussion of policy with real journalists who specialize in a certain area, backed up by a cadre of fact-checkers.

Like that's gonna happen.

READ YOUR NEWS!

These formats simply don’t work.
Insufficient time to answer a question.
This was so messy with a lot of anger spewing from the candidates except for
Mr Bloomberg.
The networks are routing for Trump because he lines their pockets. The media pushes the
narrative. The panel was a joke.
While we didn’t out trump Trump, we don’t want to project such anger to millions of viewers especially woman living in the suburbs. We can’t afford to loose these women as well as black
women who were largely responsible for the blue wave in 2016.
Their anger should be directed at Trump. These debates, especially the last two, are turning
Voters off. We are not uniting, we are self-imploding and time is ticking. The slug fest must stop.
The candidates must act like a president showing strength, confidence, and dignity with respect for their constituents.

That’s what the network execs would say in a moment of truthfulness. I miss the old way too.

Candidate 1: I'd like to calmly discuss out policies and where they are the same, and where they differ.

Candidate 3,5,6,7, in unison: You suck big time, your policies aren't worth shyte!

Candidate 2: Hey! I saw candidate 1 slip one of the moderators a few $100 notes! Not fair!

Moderator: Candidate 8, you seem strangely quiet! Want to add to the dialog?

Candidate 8 starts to cry and walks off stage.

Watching Trumpers: See? Them Dems are just so weak and disorganized!

Painful to watch, and I blame the moderators. Couldn't control a group of 5 year olds!

If they intentionally designed the format to discredit our candidates, then they succeeded.

It was so bad, I had to turn away from it.

not enough moderators doing it right.

Put a bunch of highly motivated candidates on stage together, and you are gong to get exactly what we got. Vying for air space, trying to stand out in the gaggle.

Better to have interview style discussions, 2 candidates at a time, with 4 moderators asking the right questions.

No audience
No moderators
Microphone turns on when you have the floor and turns off when you don’t
Camera is only on the person speaking
Four questions provided in advance
Each candidate has three minutes to answer the question
Once each candidate has answered there will be one minute each for rebuttal
90 seconds each for closing remarks
Hungry tigers released on whoever breaks the rules

make it a non-biased, platform based, non ratings driven, non partisan process. IMO. If you yell or speak over another candidate, you're out.

I recorded this debate. I didn't think the last ones helped out the Party at all. They have had so many painful moments that I use mute or fast forward searching for something useful.

After reading your helpful comments I think I'll skip watching this one to save time and preserve my sanity.

I place the blame on tonight squarely on their shoulders. It begins with the moderators, but no one involved in producing the event should be taking a victory lap tonight. A complete train wreck.

They moderated until the '80's when the Democrats and Republicans colluded together to host their own debates, to purposefully exclude third parties from the debate stage. #history #fact

https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud

But I like them. The people deserve the opportunity to see and to hear from the candidates that are seeking their votes.

More speech is better than less speech.



-Laelth

I will vote for whoever wins, Period. But I cannot watch these debates. There should be a more coordinated effort to oust the orange idiot.